Things to Do - BEST OF 2015

You didn't seriously think I'd let 2015 go by without a list, did you? To see the lists from past years, click here.

BOOKS
(fiction)
* My Brilliant Friend: Neapolitan Novels, Book One(possibly the best book I've ever read)
* Americanah
* Some Luck
* Life After Life
* Her
* Suite Française
* Station Eleven
* Freedom
* The Reluctant Fundamentalist

(Non-fiction)
* Girl in a Band: A Memoir
* River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze
* Displacement
* Yes Please
* Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World

TV
* The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Season 1
* Bloodline, Season 1
* the League, Season 6 (Netflix streaming)
* Narcos, Season 1
* Master of None, Season 1 (esp. episode 9)
* Girls Season 4 (esp. episode 5)

MOVIES
* The Grand Budapest Hotel
* Nightcrawler
* Iris
* Trainwreck
* What Happened Miss Simone?
* Brooklyn

FAMILY MOVIES/TV SHOWS (this category becomes bigger as the kids can watch more movies that we like as well)
* Rewatching favorite old movies with the kids - Big Fish, Big, Jaws, Footloose, Overboard
* How the States Got Their Shapes
* Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good . . .
* Shane with T
* Monkey Kingdom
* Inside Out
* ANTMAN!!!
* THE MARTIAN!!
* Pixels
* Miss Representation. (F wants to change the world now more than ever).
* Project Runway, Season 14 (Ashely and Kelly!)

MUSIC
* Stars' album No One Is Lost
* Taylor Swift's cover of Riptide
* Sufjan Stevens' album Carrie and Lowell
* The Augustines, self-titled album
* Borns' album Candy
* Ryan Adams, 1989
* Chvurches, Every Open Eye
* Lord Huron
* My Sangria at Soccer Practice mix
* Angus and Julia Stone
* Leon Bridge's album Coming Home

LOCAL EXHIBITS & PERFORMANCES
* Trailer Park, the musical
* Cherokee at Woolly Mammoth
* The Tallest Man on Earth at Lincoln Theater
* Arlington Art Center's Play exhibit
* Shirin Neshat's "Facing History" at the Hirshhorn
* Peter Pan 360 in Tysons
* The Building Museum's Beach
* Katy Perry's portrait & Revelations in Media Art at the National Portrait Gallery/ Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington D.C.)
* American Moments: Photographs from the Collection at the Philips' Collection
* The Landmark Music Festival as a family (so much good music!)
* Josh Ritter at Lincoln Theater for date night (totally obsessed with his new song, "Getting Ready to Get Down")
* Ester Bubley's photography at the National Museum of Women and the Arts
* Synetic Theater's production of Alice and Wonderland with the girls
* Sorry [Apple Family Circus] at Studio Theater for date night
* Bright Star at the Kennedy Center (so catchy for a musical!)
* The Renwick's Wonder exhibit
* Second City at the Arlington Drafthouse with half our neighborhood (I love where we live)

NEW LOCAL PLACES
* House of Steep
* Janeese and my 15.5 mile walk around DC (which was fun despite finding ourselves stuck in Arlington Cemetery for hours)
* Bull Run's Family Ice Cream themed mud run with the kids
* Watching the Women World's Cup at the Arlington Drafthouse (and their huge win at a friends' party)
* Great Waves' waterpark on the last day of August (totally empty)
* The Smithsonian American History Museum's new Innovations wing (so. much. fun.)
* MD Renaissance Festival

VACATION PLACES
* Disney World in January (esp. the new fast pass reservation system and the fact that all three kids are now old enough for Everest and Dinosaur; Thunder Mountain after dark)
* Touring the Richmond Capitol with our delegate, Alfonso Lopez
* Spring break in downtown Chicago with Grandma Troutman (esp. The Bean, the Art Institute, and the Museum of Science and Industry)
* Savannah moms' weekend (esp. drinks and food at Billy's Place)
* Our crazy crowded super fun Memorial Day Beach House (39 people working together for awesomeness)
* Camping in Senecca Rocks, WV and touring Smoke Hole Caverns
* Paris - The Pompidou Center and the Louvre and walking around such a beautiful city
* Venice - everything (well, except the heat)
* The Last Supper in Milan
* Sala Comacina in Lake Como, pretty much the prettiest place I've ever been
* Pizza Navona in Rome and touring the Vatican Museums (plus, walking home as night fell over the city; and drinks/ice cream in Campo De Fiori every night)
* Context Travel's underground Rome Tour (layers and layers of history)
* The beach in San Sebastian Spain
* The Guggenheim in Bilbao Spain (and our fantastic penthouse apartment in old town)
* Road tripping to "The Middle of Nowhere" Spain (Hotel Garbatros)
* Disney Paris (yes, we visited two Disney parks in one year, though if I had my way it would be all five)
* Smith Mountain Lake with Dan's family
* Mom's weekend in Rehoboth Beach
* Hiking/walking Belle Isla (Richmond, VA) the day after Thanksgiving
* NYC before Xmas esp. the Cloisters and the Met